The invention relates to a device for making ice cubes, which device comprises:
a cooling device with at least one cooling element, PA0 a water circuit which comprises: PA0 and PA0 means for supplying before the ice formation water to said water tank, PA0 water discharge means, PA0 means for thawing somewhat after the ice formation, that ice formed on the cooling element, so that said ice is released from said cooling element, PA0 a control device which so controls the means for supplying water to the water tank, the means for feeding water to the cooling element and the means for thawing somewhat the ice after its formation, that, before forming the ice, some water is added to the water tank, after adding said water, the supply is stopped, and as soon as enough ice has been formed on the cooling element, the means for feeding water from the water tank to the cooling element, stop the water feed, and the means for thawing somewhat the ice, are started, PA0 means for diverting during the ice formation, a portion of that water circulating in the water circuit and leading same to the water discharge means.
a water tank, PA1 means for feeding water from the water tank to the cooling element, PA1 means for returning the excess water, which has not been converted to ice, to the water tank,
and
A device of this kind is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,336.
The water circuit of said device comprises a number of cooling compartments mounted on the underside of the cooling element. The bottom of said compartments is formed by a pivoting bottom plate. Water pumped from the water tank is sprayed in the compartments through feeding openings in said bottom plate and the excess water, which is not converted into ice, returns through discharge openings in said bottom plate to the water tank. A nozzle is mounted on the feeding tube connecting the pump to the feeding openings and sprays part of the pumped water in a box mounted above the water tank. Said box is divided in two compartments. The first compartment nearest to the nozzle presents a discharge opening through which water returns to the water tank, the second compartment connects to the outlet means. The nozzle normally sprays water in the first compartment but when the cooling compartments are nearly completely filled with ice, the spraying of water into said cooling compartments gets more difficult and the pressure in the feeding tube rises. The nozzle sprays therefore farther and, when the end of the ice-forming is nearly reached, sprays in the second box compartment. The sprayed water is so evacuated through the discharge means, which has for result a quick lowering of the water level in the water tank. When said level reaches a determined minimum the control device stops the pump, causes the opening of the compartments by pivoting the bottom plate and starts the thawing so that the ice is released from the compartments.
As just before the end of the ice-forming, part of the water is withdrawn from the water circuit, and when the next cycle starts, more water is fed than necessary to the ice-forming, a water freshening is obtained and the concentration in salts and dirt in the water remains low. Good quality ice cubes may be made from normal, that is not demineralized drinking water.
The construction of said known device is however very complicated, amongst others because the water circuit has to comprise compartments which have to be closed during the ice-forming but which must be opened in order to release the formed ice. A swingable bottom plate is thus required.
The device has also to be provided with a well determined type of cooling element forming compartments with said bottom plate. The means for withdrawing part of the water from the water circuit at the end of the ice-forming cycle described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,009,336 cannot be used in devices having another type of cooling element.
The invention has now for object to obviate these drawbacks and to provide a device for making ice cubes of the above-defined type, wherewith not only very good quality ice cubes may be made from normal, that is not demineralized drinking water, but which is very simple in structure and can be used irrespective of what type the cooling element is.